Vila Pouca de Aguiar fire, 2 September 2016
Telões, Alvadia, Adoufe e Vilarinho de Samardã
Out · last detection 7 Sept 2016, 13:54 UTC
The fire started on 2 September 2016 in Telões, Portugal, and satellites saw it burning for 6 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 866 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 4 freguesias. According to ICNF, the largest of the 2 recorded fires was detected on 5 September 2016 at 10:48 and declared extinguished on 8 September 2016.
It is the 6th largest in Vila Pouca de Aguiar since 2016 (of 10 with a page). Number 38 in Portugal in 2016, of 180.
This is an index computed from weather model data, not a measurement of the fire nor an official warning. Danger warnings are issued by each country’s authority. Emergency number and official warnings ›
Weather during the fire
model
32.7°C · 22% RH
High of 32.7 °C and minimum humidity of 22% on 6 September 2016; gusts of 49 km/h on 6 September 2016.
These are model values for a cell of about 25 km, not from a weather station: they may differ from what was measured on the ground.
ⓘThis page’s change log has been kept since 24 October 2026: every night what it publishes is compared and the difference is logged. Anything earlier is reconstructed from each source’s date and marked as reconstructed.
Show
· reconstructedofficial
Matched with the official ICNF record
Matches: 890 ha in the official record (records: 2).
A version keeps the area, dates, name and official record; the area as it was logged (changes under 2% are not logged). The map, hotspots and weather always show today’s data.
Citation
A lede of about 60 words figures only, no adjectives
Burnt area inside each freguesia, from crossing the official perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance runs from the point marking the centre of each area to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.
Natura 2000 sites (European Environment Agency, 2024 release) crossed by the perimeter.
Land cover inside the perimeter according to Corine Land Cover, as reported by Copernicus.
Official record
Complex of 2 fires according to ICNF
According to ICNF, 2 fires started inside this perimeter on these dates, totalling 890 ha (the satellite measured 866 ha).
ICNF records each fire that started at a different time or place separately; the satellite sees a single burned area, so this page groups them together. The numbers on the map show where each one started.
ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, the standard reference for past weather, and the Canadian Fire Weather Index (the same system Copernicus uses), computed by WorldFires from that data. Days after the fire run until the first rain.
Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)
Day
High
Min. humidity
Peak gust
Rain
Danger (FWI)
2 Sept
29.3 °C
33 %
29 km/h
0.0 mm
High 26
3 Sept
29.5 °C
30 %
27 km/h
0.2 mm
High 28
4 Sept
29.4 °C
29 %
36 km/h
0.0 mm
High 35
5 Sept
30.5 °C
29 %
21 km/h
0.0 mm
High 29
6 Sept
32.7 °C
22 %
49 km/h
0.0 mm
High 37
7 Sept
28.4 °C
34 %
40 km/h
0.0 mm
High 36
8 Sept after
23.5 °C
41 %
30 km/h
0.0 mm
High 26
9 Sept after
23.9 °C
35 %
36 km/h
0.0 mm
High 25
10 Sept after
23.7 °C
48 %
36 km/h
0.0 mm
High 24
11 Sept after
25.7 °C
44 %
30 km/h
0.0 mm
High 24
12 Sept after
26.4 °C
40 %
49 km/h
0.1 mm
High 31
13 Sept after
17.4 °C
56 %
53 km/h
23.2 mm
Very low 3
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 26.1, a minimum humidity of 33% and 6 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 37.
FWI at the start26.1
Minimum humidity33 %
Days without rain6
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Vila Pouca de Aguiar fire, 2 September 2016
866 ha6 daysFWI 26.1Min. humidity 33 %
Monterrei fire, July 2020
729 ha4 daysFWI 26.6Min. humidity 32 %57 km away, in 2020
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
It was 3.6 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 6 days, against 2 days.
Only 7 of its 37 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 15 of 37, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 4.6 mm.
This is a bank of analogues: it shows what usually happens, not what will happen. With fewer than 15 twins we give no figures. How we calculate it
How it ended
23.2 mmfirst rain
13 Sept6 days after it ended
49km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 7 Sept, and on 13 Sept 23.2 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 22 of 37, with a median of 4.6 mm.
Weather on this page: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)
How a twin is chosen
Same area: fires that have already ended, less than 250 km from this one, since 2016.
Same start: we compare the FWI on the first day, the minimum humidity that day and the run of days without rain before it. The slider sets how much they may differ.
Only pages with final weather data (ERA5 reanalysis) calculated in the same way as this fire’s; agricultural and grass burns and pages with data under review are left out.
Fires burning at the same time as this one (a week before or after) are left out: they share the same spell of weather and do not count as a precedent.
They are sorted by similarity, and the outlines of the first five are drawn.
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
↔
Before · 26 Aug 2016
After · 14 Sept 2016
Sentinel-2 did not pass over on that day. Try another date, or use false colour, which is daily.
If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.
The smoke
CAMS · Copernicus
On 7 September 2016 the air beside the fire reached 180 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 60: 4.0 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak180µg/m³
Days over the guideline6days
PM10219µg/m³
WHO 15
3 Sept5 Sept7 Sept9 Sept
GoodFairModeratePoorVery poorExtremely poor
Particles from the Copernicus CAMS model at the centre of the perimeter; these are not measurements in each town. The pale bar is the worst hour, the solid one the daily average.
Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)
Detections table· 38Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.›
⬇ Download CSVTimes in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 2 September 2016 to 7 September 2016 (6 days). The perimeter dates it from 5 September 2016 to 7 September 2016. According to ICNF, the largest of the 2 recorded fires was detected on 5 September 2016 at 10:48 and declared extinguished on 8 September 2016.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 866 hectares (8.7 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which freguesias burned?
The fire entered 4 freguesias: Telões (762 ha, 17 %); Alvadia (100 ha, 3.0 %); Adoufe e Vilarinho de Samardã (4 ha, 0.1 %); Alvão (1 ha, 0.0 %).
Did the fire reach a town?
The fire started in Telões and came within 1.4 km of its centre. That is the distance from the perimeter, or the nearest hotspot, to the point marking the centre; it does not mean it entered the houses.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 32.7 °C, humidity dropped to 22 % and gusts hit 49 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 37, class High.
Where does this data come from?
From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Portugal (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.
How did the fires that started in similar weather in this area end?
Fires less than 250 km away that started since 2016 with a similar FWI, humidity and dry spell: 37. Their median duration was 2 days and their median area 241 ha; 16 % went past 1,000 ha. Only 7 of its 37 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 15 of 37, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 4.6 mm.
Where to verify it
A satellite detection is not an official report. Final figures and the fire’s status are published by each country’s emergency service.
This page is built from satellite data and official records, and it sometimes gets things wrong: the wrong dates, the wrong town, two fires merged into one, or something that was not a wildfire at all. If you know this fire first-hand (you live nearby, saw it, fought it or reported on it), tell us what really happened and we will check it.
⚑Report an errorHow we know this›
Perimeter: EFFIS (Copernicus), mapped on satellite imagery.
Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 5 September 2016 to 7 September 2016. 38 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with ICNF: 890 official ha against 866 ha of perimeter; they agree within 25%.
Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
The perimeter and land cover come from the Copernicus European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), measured on MODIS and Sentinel-2 imagery and published under CC BY 4.0. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. Freguesia boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM3 (CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication). The area per freguesia is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ slightly from each country’s official figure.